CORVALLIS — Corvallis Primary School had the same wooden playground for 40 years, but that recently changed.
Through community fundraising and maintenance funds, the school was able to build a brand-new, all-abilities playground.
They held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, to celebrate the new structure with the community.
A large donation came in honor of Dona Hinshaw, who died four years ago from pancreatic cancer. She was a teacher’s aide at Corvallis for almost 20 years.
Phil Hinshaw, Dona’s husband of 30 years, said his wife’s favorite part of teaching was connecting with her students.
“She knew the names of about 100 kids every year, all the years that she was here,” he said.
Dona spent a lot of her time supervising recess, and she noticed that kids were not having as much fun as they could because of the 40-year-old playground.
Before she died, she told her husband and fellow teachers that instead of flowers, she wanted everyone to donate money for a new primary school playground.
“Some of her last wishes was to get a new playground of which we’re looking at today– a beautiful playground,” Phil said.
Another Corvallis teacher, Jennifer Kozeliski, died unexpectedly in 2021, and donations were made in her honor as well.
“Dona and Jennifer were both passionate about seeing a new playground and would be so pleased with the results,” Corvallis Primary School Principal Lisa Nagel said in her speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Donations from the Corvallis community, the Rapp Family Foundation and the Ravalli Electric Cooperative's Power of Change, as well as general funds from the district, provided the remaining funds for the structure.
“They’re very excited, I just think it turned out so beautifully, and we couldn’t be more proud,” Nagel said.
The playground is ADA-compliant, so it accommodates students of all abilities. Wide ramps and sidewalks mean children with walkers or wheelchairs are not left out of the fun.
“It was really important that if we did this, that we did it for all kids,” Nagel said.
